3 Things You Should Do to Halt the Holiday Plumbing Blues

3 Things You Should Do to Halt the Holiday Plumbing Blues

The holidays are a time for family, friends, good food, tradition, and celebration. No one wants to deal with a frustrating clogged drain or an inconvenient broken water pipe over a holiday break.When you’re cooking big meals and having guests stay over, your kitchen and bathroom are used more than usual.

With this extra usage of your home’s plumbing systems, it’s not hard for something to go wrong. However, the extra stress, time, and cost spent on a holiday plumbing emergency can be avoided if you follow these 3 tips. Almighty Plumbing is here for you—learn how to avoid the most common holiday plumbing blues below!

1) Care for Your Garbage Disposal

The kitchen is always aflutter during the holidays. You’re busy making and sharing all of your favorite dishes with friends and family. But don’t forget to show your garbage disposal the appropriate TLC when cooking and cleaning up food, or else you might face some issues.

Remember to never put fruit seeds, starchy vegetables, meat bones, pasta, rice, egg shells, grease, or coffee grounds down the garbage disposal. While it’s convenient to put everything down the garbage disposal, it’s not the same thing as a garbage can. The above food scraps spell out an imminent garbage disposal clog if you’re not careful.

2) Watch Out for Bathroom Clogs

With high traffic in the bathroom, clogged sinks and toilets are more likely to occur. The best way to avoid messy, troublesome clogs is prevention. Clean your drains thoroughly before the holidays to ensure that a clog won’t pop up. Always put mesh screens over your sink and shower drains to stop hair and soap scum from congesting them. Learn more about how to identify and prevent clogged drains here.

Remind your guests that only toilet paper and human waste can be flushed down the toilet. Feminine hygiene products, wipes (even the kinds that say flushable!), and other items can lead to a clogged toilet.

3) Keep an Eye on Your Water Heater

Having relatives stay over during the holidays? That can be cozy—and stress-inducing. With so many people sharing a bathroom, your hot water heater may not be able to handle it. Who wants to handle frustrating in-laws and a freezing morning shower? Nobody, that’s for sure.

If you’re anticipating that your shower will get used more than usual, consider turning your water heater’s temperature up a little bit. This can help provide more hot water, keeping everyone in a good mood. However, be careful not to put the temperature above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.